Presidential primaries and nuclear nincompoopery.

Firstly, I'd like to point out that 'nincompoopery' is a great word. Secondly, whilst the World slept, the Presidential Primary season came to an end in South Dakota. Frankly, everyone was getting a little bored with the whole process so it was about time. Apparently, because Hillary hasn't actually conceded yet, the nation's journalists are getting themselves into a tizz. Some, I've no doubt, are imagining closed off corridors and Hillary and Barack, alone and unassisted, discussing where to take things from here over a nice cigar.

Anyway, Nora will be pleased to find out that White men are more sexist then racist. Stick that in your powder box and smoke it.

For the record, next year either Barack Obama or John McCain will be the most powerful man in the world. Time will tell whether that's a good thing. However, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that it'll certainly be a better thing than currently.

Having visited the United States on a number of occasions and encountered a highly educated, civil, generous, polite and gregarious population each time. The mind boggled when they elected Dubya to be their president, not once but twice. Some will vehemently argue that it only happened once but, the citizens of the world have had to put up with him for eight years. Those citizens, who haven't visited the U.S., will be convinced that U.S. citizens, without exception, are entirely mad.

So, here's the question, where are all the nutters who tuck their guns into their waistband and take them to church ready to slay the emissaries of the devil (they're the ones studying elementary Biology) at the first sign of the rapture - raining frogs? These lunatics, for that's what they are, are perfectly happy to pay taxes in order to subsidise the already impossibly rich supporters of Republican Presidents (of recent vintage anyway) because it s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle etc. As a side issue, while we're talking taxes, the British Empire's death knell was indubitably the Second World War where we put ourselves in hock to the United States to continue fighting the Boche. So here's a quick question to all my American readers out there, two at the last count, who owns your debt? Whose money is making your current wars possible ?

At the last count America's National debt is US$9.5 trillion. I don't know how much money that is but it sounds like a lot. 25% is owned by foreign governments via their central banks, predominately China and Japan. Now as soon as you start looking at U.S. economic numbers, the mind does start to boggle. Suffice to say that the current debt probably isn't critical yet. Even though interest payments run at US$318 billion, which is approximately 15% of tax revenues, the U.S. government does maintain reserves of over US$400 billion.

Wait a minute, did I say reserves are held in billions and China is holding US$1 trillion of debt instruments. Oh shit. What happens then, if China finds either Barack or John a little tiresome? For example, let's imagine that the U.S.A.F. accidentally flies Ballistic missile components to Taiwan?

Is the world still sleeping?

I would imagine that China would choose to divest itself of all those dollars. There's not much point propping up a foreign government's military industrial complex if it's got you in it's sights? Now, what would happen if that happened? I don't know and neither does anyone else (not even the Bankers, I asked a couple but they were too busy enjoying lunch), but it probably wouldn't be raining frogs and no-one would be paying any attention to C-SPAN anymore, if they ever were. I know what you're thinking, 'that's OK, the Japs will take up the slack, they'll be only too happy to stick a couple of fingers up at the Chinese.' and you're right. The only trouble here is that the Chinese aren't scared of the Japs anymore and the U.S. might even view a small skirmish between the two as no bad thing. During the U.S. hosted Sino-Japanese peace negotiations, I can just imagine John or Barack taking Wen Jiabao aside and saying, "about our debt old boy, any chance of waiving it?" whilst simultaneously telling Shinzo,"Sorry buddy, we can't do anything until you 've given us our money back."

So while Mr Gates (Robert, not Bill) is sacking, excuse me, asking to resign, a number of the U.S.A.F.'s top civilian and military staff for, amongst other things, accidentally flying Ballistic missile components to Taiwan. Do not be surprised to learn that this turns out to have been deliberate ("if we hadn't done it, North Korea would've got the coin") in a cunning plan to start a conflagration between the U.S. top two creditors.

As I'm running out of time, the nuclear nincompoopery refers to the U.S.A.F. accidentally flying live Nuclear missiles from North Dakota to Louisiana last year in an apparent attempt to stop Louisiana banging on about Katrina, enough already.

Also, here's a picture of the monumental work in progress that is Crazy Horse. A man who learned the hard way America's willingness to break international treaties.